Home-School

Name Connection
Topic 3
Use Functions to Model
Relationships
Dear Family,

Your child is learning to identify and represent functions in a variety of forms, including
equations, graphs, tables, and verbal descriptions. He or she is studying characteristics
of linear functions, including constant rate of change. Your child is also learning to
interpret graphs and relate them to real-world situations.
Here is an activity to help your child develop fluency with graphs.

Graphing Trips
Materials: paper and pencil
Step 1 With your child, choose a location a short distance from home, such as a grocery store, a
friend’s house, work, or school.
Step 2 Work together to write a few sentences describing a possible trip from home to this
location and back home. Include distance, travel time, and time spent at the destination.
Step 3 Have your child describe the trip by sketching a graph with time on the horizontal axis
and distance from home on the vertical axis.

Observe Your Child

Focus on Mathematical Practices
Model with mathematics.
Help your child become proficient with this Mathematical Practice. Ask him or her to explain how
each section of the graph represents each part of the trip.

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